


Just a Flicker

by Psycada



Category: Dororo (2019)
Genre: Being an absolute menace at all times, Comfort, Conning honest shopkeepers, Stealing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-21
Updated: 2019-01-21
Packaged: 2019-10-14 02:47:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17500121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Psycada/pseuds/Psycada
Summary: Hyakkimaru finds himself sick, but Dororo’s there to take care of him.





	Just a Flicker

**Author's Note:**

> Love is stored in the Dororo.
> 
> I wrote this after the second episode of the 2019 series but before the third, so this is probably non-canon by now. Unfortunately my comfort loving ass has already written this, so we’ll have to deal.

Grogginess and some sort of aching lingered over Hyakkimaru as he woke up, feeling like he had barely rested in the first place. Last night he had felt tired before he usually did and had gone to sleep early, so there was no reason for exhaustion to still be here. To add to the odd feeling, a shiver kept running along his skin, making him feel cold in the sun’s warmth.

The little soul that had been following him was still here. Somehow they hadn’t found anything better to do, staying by his side despite the inherent danger. Whatever reason they had, Hyakkimaru couldn’t guess. They were too small, young, to feel any sort of parental need for him. Was it entertainment? The simple coincidence that they had been heading in the same direction?

They had awoken before him- odd, considering he was usually up first. Feelings of impatience seeped from them, as if they had been waiting for him for some time. Had he been asleep that long? With the way his body felt it sure didn’t feel like it. Another shiver ran through his newly-feeling skin as he tried sitting up, sending another ache resonating within him.

The shiver seemed to run up his spine and concentrate in his nose, the newest organ he had gained. It lingered in some itching way before the pressure suddenly ricocheted through his body, before immediately repeating the process and leaving his body shivering again.

Was _that_ something noses did? Was that why he felt so sluggish? He hoped gaining new senses wouldn’t cause much more this, as he obviously had more demons to slay.

Whatever it was, the little soul had taken notice and came closer to him. A brief feeling of annoyance was replaced with confusion, interest, then concern in rapid succession. Hyakkimaru leaned back as the soul leaned forward, as if inspecting him. Something cold, a hand, pressed to his head for a moment, the coolness of it giving him a chill that made him want to retreat into his cloak.

The soul gently gave him a push on his chest to make him lay back down, as if a simple suggestion to. When he pushed back the suggestion became a demand, the little soul somehow forcing him back down, a sense of concern rather than expected annoyance ebbing from it. One further attempt to get up proved the soul wanted him to stay down, before it started tucking his cloak around him. Sure, this kept him warm, but Hyakkimaru couldn’t find any reason for doing this.

The soul gave a few pats to his head before taking off, Hyakkimaru watching the gray color fade out of his senses.

That was what he had been waiting for. Not because he wanted it, but because he had been expecting it. As he idly watched the soul disappear, he felt his head ache and drag him back into sleep, some sourness churning in him. Was this bitterness? Not directed at the soul, per say, but a more… general feeling. That he had even had the idea that the soul was going to stay for any longer. That it wouldn’t merely stay by his side for more than it needed to be.

In a haze of loneliness he soon fell back asleep, now having nothing better to do.

* * *

 

His body felt too heavy to move. A great, red blur was above him, but he could only squirm in place as his newly grown nerves told him this is bad, he can’t win this, that they’d be ripped apart like so many strings if he didn’t escape. Could he even do that now? Everything ached, and the most he could do was attempt to lift his clumsy feeling arm and watch his fingers crumple as they collided with the burning red flame.

Claws suddenly dipped into his stomach, in the vague dream way that left his middle feeling numb and pulsing and sickening, all at the same time. His arms dumbly crashed about, motor movements gone as he desperately fought back, if one could even _call_ it fighting.

And all the while the little soul was leaving, leaving him behind, slowly flickering away but never quite disappearing. Just leaving and torturing him with their near absence. He cried out with a voice that didn’t exist, in some attempt to keep his loneliness at bay. But it was too far to hear him, too far to care.

* * *

 

In his attempt to escape his imaginary threat he thrusted himself forward as he woke, gasping in deep breaths. His body felt worse now, shaking either from fear or cold, or both. He couldn’t decide if he wanted to throw off his cloak to alleviate the hotness on his skin or wrap himself in it to save himself from chills. Beads of oily liquid ran down his skin, until something cold and soft and wet pressed against it. His head snapped to the side where the cloth had come, only to find a white flurry of energy next to him.

The little soul. They had come back, and near them was bits of green, the last few flickerings of white, with something else in the middle- food. They had only left to get food for him. They came _back_. They ebbed with concern, worry, the need to check to know if he was alright.

In an impulse he grabbed the sides of the soul and pulled them closer, as if he had forgotten every detail and needed to memorize them again. Through the emanating feeling of irritation he studied the flickering of white, how it burned just a bit more fiercely than others, as if proud of itself for simply existing. How it always hid a feeling of mischief under it, or a much more hidden loneliness, buried under an attitude of childish glee. Only when the displeasure grew enough for the soul to start wiggling from his grasp did he let go, letting himself lay back down. Annoyance turned to more of an exasperation, before one of the green pieces was offered to him. Out of instinct he tilted his head away from the sudden intrusion, before taking with his hand to eat. The kid really needed to learn personal space, sheesh.

Whatever had been the other food (it was no longer living, no soul to sense) was now being offered to him, Hyakkimaru trying to avoid it with no prior knowledge of what it was the soul was even trying to feed him. Before he could lift an arm to resist the advances, he felt the irritation spike and the food was suddenly shoved into his mouth, half of it sticking to his cheeks. It was chewy, but the texture was nothing he would’ve found in the wild. Where’d they even get this? Whatever it was, the soul had now taken to simply pushing food in his mouth, Hyakkimaru finding it easier to just go along than try to resist again.

This was… caring, if he recalled right. The soul was taking it upon theirself to take care of him. It had been a long time since anything like this had happened. When a soul would hold him close, and even if he couldn’t feel it physically, he’d be cradled with love and affection. He could sense that now, just a small flicker, a beginning, of it in the little soul’s chest. That was why they came back. That was why they took this much care into making sure he ate.

* * *

 

“C’mon, how can you be picky when you were gonna eat raw fish a week ago?”

Dororo tried to avoid smearing rice all over Hyakkimaru’s face, until he gave into frustration and just shoved it into him. “I stole this just for you, you know. It’s just rice!” after the initial resistance it seemed he was at least accepting now.

He couldn’t dawdle, though. The shopkeep he stole this from was sure to have followed him, and he needed to set up the con he was going to pull. Ripping out patches of grass, he rubbed green splotches into his skin, then moved to do the same to Hyakkimaru’s prosthetics. The hardest part was trying to keep him still enough to rub a convincing amount of green into his face, as he struggled against it again. “Just a little! Play along with this, ok?”

Afterwards Hyakkimaru just rolled over and wrapped himself further into his cloak. Close enough. He just need him to look sick enough for this.

Footsteps approached, Dororo expecting the shopkeep but looking up to see the monk that had traveled with them earlier. “Hey! You wanna help me con someone?”

The monk sat down on the grass by the fire Dororo set up, “Ah, sorry. I’m afraid I’ll have to skip out on crime for today.” Dororo dropped the chunk of grass he had prepared, seeing that his plan was ready enough. “Just don’t give me away, ok?”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Now there were the footsteps of who he had been expecting. Turning around, Dororo looked up at the fuming shopkeeper that had followed him out here, the bowl of rice becoming more apparent to his side. He glared down at Dororo, who immediately put on his best oh-so-sorry look.

“Alright, kid. I get we’re all starving, but since you haven’t eaten that much, I’ll cut you a deal- give the bowl back and no one gets hurt.”

Sympathy. That was something Dororo could take and run with. “Aw, I’m so sorry mister,” he pitched his voice just a bit higher than usual, “It’s just that, oh, it’s my brother’s last day.” He gestured to Hyakkimaru, who hadn’t either hadn’t bothered to turn around to look at the shopkeep, or was just sensing him from behind. Maybe both. The shopkeep wasn’t convinced yet, though. “Yeah, yeah, lots of people are on their last legs. Give me my goods, kid.” He took a step forward, Dororo pulling out part two of the act in an instant.

“Woah, woah, wait! You don’t wanna get sick too, do you?” The shopkeep stopped in caution, Dororo taking note. “I’ve already got it, see,” he pointed to the green spots he had rubbed on, “You might catch it if you come too close. I’d say I…” he pretended to study his arm, “...have three days, if I’m lucky.” He then put on a gloomy facade, giving a few pats to his “brother”. “Ah, my brother though… Well, it’s any minute now.” Out of sheer luck Hyakkimaru sneezed again, giving that same look of shock at his body for doing that. For a brief moment Dororo wondered what he even did when he couldn’t sneeze with a prosthetic, but focused back on hyping up the fake disease he just made. “It’s really terrible, you know. You lose _all_ you limbs,“ he wiggled Hyakkimaru’s arm around, making sure the ceramic rattled, “and _then_ , your skin starts burning. But at that point your brain has rotted so much you can’t even notice.” He gave a few more pats to Hyakkimaru for emphasis, “See? He’s only got a few minutes left…”

The shopkeep glared with unsteady belief, before looking over to the monk and pointing at him. “Hey, priest! What about you, huh? You don’t seem sick to me.”

Dororo tensed for a moment, turning to the monk. His head tilted up to the shopkeep as Dororo inwardly begged for him to at least play along for a bit, if only to defend him.

“Oh, I’m only here to read him the rites. Should only take a few more minutes, now.”

Dororo made a note to give the monk a extra share of rice after this. Picking up the bowl, he turned back to the shopkeep. “Well, if you really want it, I guess I’ll have to give it back… I’ll have one last bite, ok?” He stuck his hand, making sure he touched as much rice as possible without making it too obvious. As he stood up, licking the last of the rice off his hands, the shopkeep took a step back. “Huh? What’s wrong, mister?” He asked as if he hadn’t known his little facade had gotten to him, “Really, you can have it back. I shouldn’t have stolen it.”

The shopkeep gave a groan, before turning away and walking off. “Just forget about it, kid.” Judging from the frustrated tone, Dororo guessed the con had worked. “Aw, really? Thanks!” he called, watching the shopkeep disappear into the distance.

Giggling to himself, he turned back to find Hyakkimaru had fallen asleep, though much more peacefully than when Dororo had found him. “What, you can’t stay awake for the rice I just got for you?” He leaned on Hyakkimaru’s hip, feeling the disconnect under his elbow of the prosthetic and skin. “Oh, you want some rice, monk?” He handed the bowl over, the monk accepting it by dragging it over to him with his cane. “I owe you, since you said you weren’t doing crime today.”

Hyakkimaru stirred a bit, before lifting an arm and resting it on Dororo. Dororo followed through the initial impulse of immediately shoving him off, before relaxing for a moment. The cloak was now draped onto him, feeling pleasantly warm. Slowly, he set his arm down, still holding it as he sat next to Hyakkimaru. He didn’t mean any harm by this- so Dororo made himself comfortable by leaning against Hyakkimaru’s back and hugging his arm as a pillow. As much as he wanted to have a new adventure with him, it _was_ pretty clear he needed rest.

* * *

 

As Hyakkimaru dozed off, waiting for this feeling to subside, the little soul stayed close to him. He could feel them, warm, comforting, just behind him. It was lulling him deeper into sleep, while he focused on the little flicker of love and caring within the soul.

That flicker burned just a bit brighter now, and brighter still while he slept.


End file.
